What I thought being a mother would be like

A few of my friends indicated that I would feel the following upon becoming a mother:

• You will change forever and the way that you look at your partner will change forever
• Becoming a parent is like really joining the human family
• Once you become a parent that is when you truly grow up
• You will struggle with having a little person that is entirely, utterly reliant on you
• You will be bored at home
• You won’t have time to be bored at home
• It will be the best thing you have ever done

Now some of those assumptions are quite condescending towards those that have made the valid choice not to have children. I don’t feel that having a child completes me, makes me into an adult or ties me in a stronger way to the human race. What I have felt is an overwhelming sense of love for my child accompanied by a fierce desire to protect Isaac. I feel like there is another dimension to my life, rather than a loss of self. I feel that I will learn so much from being a mother and that, as all life experiences do, it will make me a better rounded person. I know that it will teach me patience (a much needed lesson!)

I haven’t yet been bored at home, but I can see how that might happen. Time is a luxury that we aren’t often afforded, so I want to use it to learn new things and rediscover old hobbies. As for feeling tied down or resentful of the demands of a newborn – I haven’t felt that. I think that the overwhelming desire to keep him safe and happy overrides any feelings of resentment. I literally would do anything for him. I know its early days and perhaps my outlook is rosier that it should be but one thing is for sure though – it’s the best thing we have ever done.